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The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has extended the deadline for submitting memoranda and position papers on the proposed legislation to August 21, 2026.
The extension, according to the working group, is intended to give Nigerians and other stakeholders more time to prepare and submit detailed contributions to the proposed reform of the country’s policing architecture.
Chairman of the Presidential Working Group and Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, announced the extension in a statement. He said submissions would now close at 5:00 p.m. West Africa Time on Friday, August 21, 2026.
Gbajabiamila explained that the extension was granted to provide interested individuals, institutions and organisations with adequate opportunity to make substantive and technically sound contributions to the proposed legislation.
“The Presidential Working Group is committed to ensuring that the process of developing the National Policing Bill benefits from broad consultation and the informed perspectives of Nigerians and relevant stakeholders,” he said.
He explained that the proposed legislation was designed to establish the operational, administrative, institutional and funding framework required to create an effective policing system capable of responding to Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
According to him, the framework would also provide safeguards for accountability, professionalism and the protection of citizens’ rights.
The working group chairman said the significance of the proposed reform to Nigeria’s policing and internal security made it necessary to allow stakeholders more time to examine the issues and provide meaningful input.
He therefore encouraged legal practitioners, civil society organisations, security sector professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts and other interested members of the public to use the extended period to submit their memoranda and position papers.
“All submissions must be made on or before 5:00 p.m. WAT on Friday, August 21, 2026, exclusively through the official National Policing Bill portal, nationalpolicingbill.com,” Gbajabiamila stated.
Gbajabiamila said the working group was considering several critical issues as it developed the proposed policing framework.
These include sustainable funding, command-and-control structures, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, and inter-agency coordination. Other areas include accountability mechanisms and safeguards against political interference or abuse.
He stressed that these issues required extensive consultation to ensure that the eventual framework would be effective, accountable, sustainable and responsive to the security needs of communities across Nigeria.
He added that the considerations underscored the importance of robust stakeholder engagement in developing a policing framework suitable for the country.
Gbajabiamila said the Presidential Working Group would, after considering the submissions, produce a final and implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for onward legislative processing.
